Contact the Host: jmstoodt@gmail.com

First Parish Films: 2012-2013 Season

 The purpose of First Parish Films is to build a community of filmgoers eager to uncover the deeper meanings of a story. Entertaining yet challenging movies are shown monthly. Commonly called “art-house” movies, these works lend themselves to considering meaningful spiritual and emotional issues.

Screenings are on a Friday at 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall at First Parish Milton, 535 Central Avenue.

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Star Power on Display at First Parish

by Jeffrey Stoodt
First Parish Milton

Certified Copy, a 2011 film starring Juliette Binoche, will be screened in the Parish Hall on Friday, January 18 at 7 pm. It’s an opportunity in this Oscar season to watch a performance that The Boston Globe’s Wesley Morris swooned over.

Binoche’s acting, Morris writes, is “a mercurial feat of merely being that combines skill with all the intangibles of a glorious movie persona.” She plays a French antiques dealer intrigued by a lecture about the elusive nature of authenticity in art. She and James (the lecturer) form a relationship in which they discuss the idea of perfect copies. Their fast intimacy puzzle outsiders who conclude that they must be married. They do little to dispel that notion.

Directed by celebrated Iranian Abbas Kiarostami, Certified Copy, according to Morris, “puts a great movie star to thrilling use…the key to the mystery is Binoche, who’s full of little surprises. She throws away her lines and rolls her eyes and stares both at James and, courtesy of Kiarostami’s museum-worthy framing, at us. She makes being on camera seem like the easiest thing in the world, which is what great stars can do – and that makes you feel as alive as they appear to be.”

            The film is in Italian, French, and English with English subtitles.

January 18, Certified Copy

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM_8TPLMCOU

reviews:   http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/certified_copy/

February 8
Monsieur Lazhar

A 55 year-old Algerian immigrant works as a substitute in a Montreal school. He is replacing a teacher who committed suicide. The school community is still grieving the loss, and the new teacher is contending with his own painful past. “A sad, reflective study of the possibilities, and the impossibilities, inherent in the teacher-student relationship,” wrote Steven Rea (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pBm9keEBAY

reviews:  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monsieur_lazhar_2011/

March 8
A Separation

A woman attempts to separate from her husband and leave contemporary Iran. Caught in the struggle is her young daughter. “The movie—particularly in its first half—is dynamically shot, paced like a thriller, and has the density and moral prickliness of a good novel.” (Jon Frosch, The Atlantic)

trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Onuy5USTc

reviews:  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_separation_2011/

April 12

Footnote

Eliezer and Uriel are father and son who work in the field of Talmudic Studies.  When his father wins a prestigious award, the son, an up-and-coming academic star, has difficulty accepting it.

trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dwe7GR9kO4

reviews:  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/footnote/

May 10

Silent Souls

Set in West-Central Russia, this film features two men going on a long road trip carrying two small birds in a cage. They are members of the Merja culture, and they must follow this tribe’s rituals for saying goodbye to a beloved wife who has passed away. Ty Burr (The Boston Globe) writes: “We emerge from Silent Souls as hushed as its characters, listening hard for the tide lapping at our feet.”

reviews:  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silent_souls/

June 7

Polisse

This film tells the story of a team of men and woman who comprise the Child Protection Unit of the Parisian police. Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, it was called “one of the best based-on-facts police pictures” by Stanley Kauffmann (The New Republic).

trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_umPJroPoQU

reviews:  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/polisse_2011/